title: Physician and patient use of and attitudes toward complementary and alternative medicine in the treatment of infertility.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine use of and attitudes toward complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among infertility patients and subspecialty physicians.
  
  
  METHODS
  Infertility patients were asked to complete anonymous written surveys at an academic infertility practice; members of the Society for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility were electronically surveyed. Both groups were assessed regarding their use of and attitudes toward CAM.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The response rate was 32.1% (115/358) among patients and 22.6% (225/995) among physicians (P<0.05). In total, 105 (91.3%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 85.8-96.2) patients used CAM, and 84 (73.0%; 95% CI, 64.9-81.1) regarded it as beneficial to their fertility treatment. However, only 30 (26.1%; 95% CI, 18.0-34.0) patients reported CAM use to physicians, with the most common reason being that they were "never asked." Overall, 202 (89.8%; 95% CI, 85.9-93.8) physicians reported inquiring about CAM.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Significant discrepancies exist between subfertile patients and physicians in attitudes toward the use of CAM. The current prevalence of CAM use among infertility patients requires greater physician attention and justifies further study on the risks and benefits of integrating CAM into the biomedical treatment of infertility.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA. naclark@med.umich.edu
authors.forename: Natalie A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Matthew A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Will
authors.forename: Molly B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Moravek
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Senait
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fisseha
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003625:Data Collection; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007246:Infertility / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'
keywords: Complementary and alternative medicine; Infertility; Knowledge; Patients; Perceptions; Physicians